en.Wedoany.com Reported - SpaceX plans to launch a new project in July, laying a natural gas pipeline approximately 13 kilometers long, directly to its rocket launch facility in Texas, in order to increase the launch frequency of its heavy-lift rocket "Starship."
According to reports, this pipeline is named "StarPipe." In May, SpaceX subsidiary "Lone Star Mineral Development" submitted relevant documents to the Texas Railroad Commission for laying the pipeline, which is expected to be operational by January 26 next year.
Citing an anonymous official from the Port of Brownsville, Texas, the report said that "StarPipe" will originate at the port. SpaceX is therefore negotiating with the port to lease approximately 34 hectares of land for a 50-year term. The end of "StarPipe" is located at the company's rocket construction and launch facility in Texas, known as "Starbase."
According to relevant engineering plans released in August last year, SpaceX intends to build a liquefaction facility at Starbase to convert natural gas transported via the pipeline into liquid methane. Texas geologist and oil and gas attorney William Farrar said that this arrangement is clearly "the most efficient" for Starship launches.
The reusable Starship rocket is approximately 120 meters long and uses about 2.4 million liters of liquid methane per launch. Currently, refueling Starship requires hundreds of tanker trucks and takes several hours to complete. This clearly cannot meet the high expectations that SpaceX founder Elon Musk has for Starship.
Since 2023, Starship has conducted 12 uncrewed test flights. Musk hopes that Starship can launch dozens of times per year, eventually reaching hundreds or even thousands of launches annually. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration currently approves a maximum of 25 Starship launches per year. Based on the 406-millimeter design diameter of "StarPipe," its fuel delivery capacity is more than sufficient.
It is uncommon for aerospace companies to build their own natural gas pipelines for launch platforms, but this may be part of SpaceX's long-term strategy to control its supply chain as much as possible. A review by Reuters of relevant documents from Cameron County, Texas, where Starbase is located, found that the company has been searching for exploitable natural gas resources near Starbase and within Texas for years. The documents also show that since 2023, the company has signed and paid for over 100 oil and gas leases with Texas property owners.
On the day of SpaceX's initial public offering on the 12th of this month, company President Gwynne Shotwell told the media that the company plans to lay natural gas pipelines, process rocket propellant, and consider extracting natural gas.
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